Israel 'angry' at Lebanon report

6 July 2011 Last updated at 18:14 GMT Protesters staged the border protest on the anniversary of the foundation of the Israeli state Israeli officials are reportedly boycotting a UN official in Lebanon after he wrote a report criticising Israel's response to a border incursion by Palestinian protesters in May.

Diplomatic sources in Israel have declined to comment on the reports.

It is understood that the unpublished UN document criticises the Israeli army for using disproportionate force by firing on protesters.

Seven protesters trying to cross from Lebanon were killed, the report says.

The incident occurred on the anniversary of what the Palestinians refer to as the Nakba or Catastrophe, their term for the founding of the Israeli state in 1948.

Some protesters were also killed on Israel's border with Syria as they took part in a similar demonstration.

'Not commensurate'

The contents of the UN report, written by the organisation's senior representative in Lebanon, Michael Williams, have been circulating widely in the Middle East.

It was delivered several days ago to members of the UN Security Council, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which also obtained a copy.

The report apparently acknowledges that the actions of the Palestinian protesters initiated the violence.

But the document is understood to criticise the Israeli army for being too quick to turn to the use of live ammunition against protesters who were not carrying firearms.

"Other than firing initial warning shots, the Israel Defense Forces did not use conventional crowd control methods or any other method than lethal weapons against the demonstrators," it says, according to quotes published by Haaretz.

It adds that the Israeli response "was not commensurate to the threat to Israeli soldiers".

Reports in the Israeli press say Israel's diplomats are now refusing to schedule meetings with Mr Williams, who they feel is readier to condemn its forces than the protesters who challenge them.

Although that is not officially admitted in Jerusalem, the BBC's Kevin Connolly says one diplomat acknowledges that "there is no hurry to restore contact with him".

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Fifa report accuses Bin Hammam

Bin Hammam denies any wrongdoing A Fifa report seen by the Press Association says there is "overwhelming evidence" that Mohamed bin Hammam used bribery in his presidential campaign.

The ethics committee also stated that former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner was "an accessory to corruption".

Warner resigned from his role on Monday and quit all football activities.

As a result, football's governing body dropped all investigations into Warner, adding that "the presumption of innocence is maintained".

However, the full report of the ethics committee headed by Namibian judge Petrus Damaseb said there was "comprehensive, convincing and overwhelming" proof that bribes had been paid to officials to support Bin Hammam's campaign for the Fifa presidency, and that Warner had facilitated this.

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I believe Jack Warner should be made to answer these charges - it's not enough just for him to resign

Tory MP Damian Collins

Both 68-year-old Warner, from Trinidad and Tobago, and Qatar's Bin Hammam, 62, were provisionally suspended on 29 May.

Bin Hammam withdrew as a candidate in the Fifa presidential race against Sepp Blatter on the morning of his ethics committee hearing on 29 May. Both Bin Hammam and Warner deny the allegations.

The 17-page Fifa report was faxed to Warner on 14 June. Three days later, he informed Fifa he was quitting.

The report obtained by the Press Association concludes that there was "compelling" evidence that Bin Hammam and Warner arranged a special meeting of the 25 members of the Caribbean Football Union [CFU] on 10 and 11 May in Trinidad and that, with their knowledge, cash gifts were handed over.

Statements from witnesses, contained in the report, said they were handed brown envelopes each containing 40,000 US dollars. One of the witnesses, Fred Lunn from the Bahamas, photographed the cash before returning it.

The document also stated that four witnesses claimed that Warner told the CFU delegates on 11 May that the "money for the 'gifts' allegedly distributed the day before had been apparently provided by Mr Bin Hammam".

Warner's evidence to the 29 May hearing is described as "mere self-serving declarations" and that he "failed to provide the Fifa ethics committee with a plausible explanation".

Bin Hammam said in a statement: "There is nothing I can say more than I deny the allegations and insist that I have not done anything wrong during the special Congress at Trinidad."

Damian Collins, the Tory MP who is campaigning for a reform of Fifa, believes the case against Warner should be re-opened.

"This makes Fifa's claim that Warner can be presumed innocent absolutely incredible," he said. "I believe Jack Warner should be made to answer these charges - it's not enough just for him to resign.

"This shows it was a big error of judgement by Sepp Blatter to call off the inquiry and cover this up.

"Fifa should also confirm Mohamed Bin Hammam should not similarly be allowed to resign in return for having the investigation dropped."

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UN report condemns Syrian actions

15 June 2011 Last updated at 15:38 GMT The UN report says 1,100 unarmed civilians have been killed in the crackdown Syrian troops trying to quash three months of protests are committing "alleged breaches of the most fundamental rights", says a UN report.

The use of live ammunition against mostly unarmed civilians has killed around 1,100 people, says the report.

It also documents arrests on a massive scale. Investigators believe as many as 10,000 people have been detained.

Investigators used evidence from rights groups and people who had fled Syria, but were denied entry to the country.

President Bashar al-Assad is facing the gravest threat to his family's 40-year ruling dynasty, as unrest that first erupted in the south of the country has now engulfed the north - near the border with Turkey - and is threatening to spread eastwards towards its border with Iraq.

As anti-regime demonstrations continued in many parts of the country, the government on Wednesday mobilised its own demonstration of popular support as thousands of people turned out in a Damascus suburb to wave a giant Syrian flag 2.4 km (1.4 miles) long.

Laying siege to towns

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has repeatedly appealed to Syria to let in a humanitarian team make a proper assessment, but the Syrian authorities have refused.

Continue reading the main story Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

The people of Maarat al-Numan fear they may be next for the attention of the Syrian army's troops and tanks, which have been gathering on the town's outskirts for the past few days. According to residents and activists, many of the town's 100,000-strong population have been fleeing in all directions. Officials say they're planning a "limited military operation" to restore security there.

Continued anti-regime demonstrations are reported in many areas, including at Deir al-Zour in the east, Latakia on the coast, Homs and Hama in central Syria, and some suburbs of Damascus. But in a big show of organised support for the regime, many thousands of people turned out to witness what's being billed as the world's biggest Syrian flag, running along a big stretch of main road on the western outskirts of the capital.

They waved pictures of President Assad and chanted slogans praising him. State TV said the event was organised to show the Syrian people's cohesion, and rejection of foreign interference.

But despite being denied access by the Syrian government, the new UN report documents reliable evidence of widespread violations, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.

"The most egregious reports concern the use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians, including from snipers positioned on rooftops of public buildings and the deployment of tanks in areas densely populated by civilians," says the report.

It cites "the excessive use of force in quelling demonstrators, arbitrary detentions, summary executions, torture".

The authorities appear to have denied civilians the right to food and medical care by laying siege to towns and preventing supply deliveries, it adds.

The preliminary report was commissioned by the UN human rights council in April, adds our correspondent. A more definitive account will have to wait until the Syrian government allows UN investigators in to see the situation for themselves.

Tanks in towns

Meanwhile, Syria has called on the people of Jisr al-Shughour to return, three days after an army attack restored government control there.

More than 8,000 Syrians have fled from the north-western town into Turkey in the past week to escape military operations, which the government says are aimed at tackling "terrorist organisations".

Supporters of President Assad have unfurled a 2,000ft flag in Damascus

Officials said the city of around 100,000 people - which has been the focus of large anti-regime demonstrations - was returning to normal, but that army units were still pursuing "militants" through the hills around the town.

Damascus says some 120 security personnel were killed by "armed gangs" in the town on 6 June, and on Wednesday state TV said a "mass grave" containing three bodies had been found.

At the same time, troops and tanks are reported to be massing for an attack on Maarat al-Numan, 25 miles (40km) south-east of Jisr al-Shughour. One eye-witness told BBC Arabic there were "no more than 7,000 people" left in the city, which has a population of some 90,000.

Syrian state media have reported attacks on government buildings and security headquarters in the town, which straddles the main highway between Syria's two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Jordan said it had reopened a border crossing 10km from the southern Syrian city of Deraa, where the current unrest started in March.

'Unbalanced' position?

Although it has not yet responded to the UN report, Syria has expressed "surprise" at Arab League Chief Amr Moussa's position that the situation there was "dangerous and worrying".

Some 8,000 Syrians are now sheltering in refugee camps in Turkey

Syrian rights groups put the overall death toll in Syria at 1,297 civilians and 340 security force members.

Refugees arriving in Turkey describe the regime's operation in the northern mountains as a "scorched-earth" campaign, and Syrian soldiers who deserted have said they were forced to commit atrocities.

Syria has prevented foreign journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the country, making it difficult to independently verify reports from there.

European powers are campaigning for a draft UN Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown, but they face opposition from Russia and China, both of whom wield veto powers and object to UN action against President Assad.

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